Machine for shrinking hat bats



March 31, 1953 H. A. GENEST ET AL MACHINE FOR SHRINKING HAT BATS 8 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 28. 1949 grwa/wtom HOMER A. GENES WARNEPH GENES? .v 3 3N Q3 3n an 8% 8w mom March ,1953 H. A. GENEST ET AL 2,532,937

MACHINE FOR SHRINKING HAT BATS Filed Jan. 28. 1949 8 Shets-Sheet 2 HOMER A. GENES?" WARNER H GENES?" March 31, 1953 HA. GENE ST ET AL MACHINE FOR SHRINKING HAT BATS 8 Sheets-Sheet 3 GENES? MHOMER A.

WARNER H GENES?" Filed Jan. 28. 1949 March 31, 1953 A. GENEST ET AL MACHINE FOR SHRINKING HAT BATS Filed Jan. 28. 1949 8 Sheets-Sheei 4 HOMER A. GENES?" WARNER H- GENEGT Marci; 31, 1953 H. A. GENEST ET AL MACHINE FOR SHRINKING HAT BATS 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 28. 1949 HOMER A. GENES? WARNER H GENES? H. A. GENEST ETAL 2,632,937

MACHINE FOR SHRINKING HAT BATS March 31, 1953 Filed Jan. 28. 1949 a s Sheets-Sheet e HOMER A. GENE/.5? mE-NER H GENE/.5?

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March 31, 1953 I H. A. GENES-T ET AL, I 2,632,937

MACHINE FOR SHRINKING HAT BATS Filed Jan. 28. 1949 8 Sheets-Sheet 7 3mm 0 HOMER A. GENES? & 1 WARNER H GENES? March 31,1953 H. A. GENEST ET AL MACHINE FOR SHRINKING HAT BATS 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 Filed Jan. 28. 1949 HOMER A. GENES? WARNER H GEAEJT 2m 8w 9n mum n MG 03 RN\.

Patented Mar. 31, 1953 MACHINE FOR SHRINKING HAT BATS Homer A. Genest and Warner H. Genest, Danbury, Conn; assignors to United States Hat Machinery Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Virginia I Amman January 28, 1949, Serial No. 73,386

' 22 Claims.

invention relates to improvements in machine for shrinking hatbats', such machine being primarily for the purpose of felting, shrinking, and crozingbats from which fur or felt hats are made. v v

In connection with the existing practice, hat bats are formed of felt in conical shapes, and the bats are then hardened so that they may be handled 'without disintegrating,- The hardened bats are then shrunk and felted by passing the same a number of times through a machine wherein theyare maintained in a moistened, heated condition and manipulated in a flat condition. As the bats pass through the machine,

t the same are crozed, ,that is, the, plies are relatively shifted with respect to one another so as to change the line of crease and thereby avoid streaks and imperfections in the bat.

The bats are repeatedly manually returned to the machine, and between such operations, the operator will successively shift or change the angular positions of the bat so that crozing is successfully effected in different directions through the bat, as explained in Homer A. Genest PatentNo; 1,533,351.

. By successively passing the bat through the machinein different angular positions, the bat is not only properly crozed incident to being shrunk, but its shape is corrected and maintained. The operator, in manually changing the annular positions of the bats each time they are again fed to the machine, will use such judgment that, when the felting and shrinking operation is completed, the bat will be symmetrical in all respects, that is, it will be of the desired shape, the tip being suitably curved, the side edges bearing the proper angular relation one to another, and the edges of the brim being in regisyl l Not only do the bats have their angular positions manually changed each time they are introduced to themachine, but after apredetermined number of changings of angular position, the bat isccmpletely turned over, that is, turned over either "end for end or side for side, and again passed through themachine a number of times, each time changing the angular position, so as to enhance the crozing and felting operations as'aforesaidl;

It will beseen fromthe foregoing that all of the feedings, changings of angular position, and turning the bats over are accomplished manually and such operations are therefore costly and time consuming. .Further,,-considerable discomfort is experienced by .thepperator in performingthese functions due'tothe fact that the bats are continuously saturated by solutions maintained at relatively high temperature a proaching the boiling point of water. c

It is an object of the present invention to provide, for use with a shrinking machine, means which will automatically feed the bats so asto return them to the entrance of the shrinking machine from the exit thereof, and also automatically change the angular position of the bat prior to each time it is introduced to the entrance of the shrinking machine, thus eliminating a very large amount of the previously required manual operations as wellas saving the operator the discomfort referred to above.

It is another object of the invention to provide an improved shrinking machine which will so manipulate the bats during the shrinking and crozing operations that the plies are relatively moved andworked so that the edges or lips of the bats will be in substantial registry with each other when they are ejected from the exit of the machine, whereby the lips will also be in substantial registry when the bat is fed to the entrance of the machine by the aforementioned bat feeding machine, thus insuring maximum shrinking and crozing without wrinkling. r

It is still another object of the invention to provide means, responsive either to time or,

the passage of a predetermined number of bats, which will function to control the mechanism which changes the angular positions of thebats.

, A still further object of the invention is to utilize the aforementioned responsive means, or

additional similar means, and a bat ejecting means controlled thereby which will automatically eject the bats from the bat feeding andreturn device after they have passed through the shrinking machine a predetermined number of times or for a predetermined period of time.

Details of these objects and inventions as well as viewed from the righthand end of said ma-.

chine shown in Fig. 1, the bat feedingand positioning device being removed from the machine inFig.2. Fig. 3 is a, fragmentary enlarged side eleva- 3 tional view of the shrinking machine shown in Fig. 1 with covers removed from the machine to expose the driving means comprising a part of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is an additional fragmentary side elevational view of the shrinking machine shown in Fig. 1 with the parts of the cover removed to illustrate details of other parts of the driving mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary side elevational view of part of the roller construction and driving means therefor in the shrinking machine illustrated in Fig. 1 and viewed from the side opposite to that shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 1 and illustrated on the scale of Figs. 3 and 4.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary side elevation of substantially the righthand half of the combined machine shown in Fig. l and illustrating in detail the driving mechanism for the various components of the hat bat feeding and positioning device.

Fig. 8 is a top plan view of that portion of the machine and device shown in Fig. '7, illustrating the manner in which the hat bat feeding and rotating device changes the positions of the bats on the conveyors.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary vertical elevation taken on line 9-9 of Fig. 8 but illustrated on a larger scale than used in said figure and with the sprockets 326 slightly changed in position and with the idler 342 and its supporting shaft omitted in the interest of clarity.

10 is a fragmentary vertical elevation taken on line ill-l0 of Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a vertical sectional side elevation ofa detail of the device shown in Fig. '7 and illustrating the bat feeding mechanism in discharge position.

Shrinking and. crozz'ng mechanism Referring to the drawings, a frame it supports the components and sub-structure of a shrinking and crozing machine embodying the principles of the present invention, said machine also felting the bats. Said frame is preferably enclosed by side members i2. The upper portion of the machine, including the rollers and their driving means, are supported by said frame and are described in detail hereinafter. Side covers l4 enclose part of said upper portion of the machine.

Supported by the frame H! on opposite sides of the machine are a pair of spaced parallel vertical plates 5 and I8 which areprovided with a plurality of horizontal opposed openings 20, 22, and 24, the openings and 24 being in the form of vertically disposed slots, whereas the openings 22 are cylindrical. Said openings are for the purpose of positioning bearings 26 within which the opposite ends of roller shafts 28-, 3t and 32 are rotatably mounted. Said shafts each support one of the bat-working rollers 34 of which a plurality are provided within the machine.

As is clearly shown in Figs. 2, 4, and 6 particularly, there are three superposed horizontally disposed rows of cooperating; rollers 34. The intermediate rows of rollers are supported on their shafts within bearings 26' disposed in the parallel rows of cylindrical apertures 22 provided in the opposed plates i6 and I8. Rollers 34 of the upper row are supported on their shafts 28 which are rotatably mounted within the rows of opposed bearings 26 mounted within thever- 4 tical slotted openings 2|). The intermediate and upper row of rollers 34 cooperate to form therebetween a first passageway, the entrance to said passageway being indicated at 36.

Rollers 34 of the lower row are supported by their shafts 32 which are rotatably mounted in bearings 26 disposed within the rows of slotted openings 24 which are likewise formed in the plates l6 and I8. Said lower row of rollers oooperates with the intermediate row to form a second passageway and the end thereof below the entrance 36 comprises an exit 38. In effect, therefore, the frame and machine have an entrance 36 and exit 38.

It will be seen that a flat hat bat 40, such as shown in Fig. 8, is fed into the entrance 36 so as to pass between the closely positioned rows of rollers 34 comprising the first passageway and when the bat reaches the lefthand end of the first passageway as viewed in Fig. 4, for example, a plurality of transfer rolls 42 co-operate with the innermost intermediate roller 34 to move the bats from the innermost end of the first passageway into the innermost end of the second passageway, the latter being between the intermediate and lower rows of rollers.

The transfer rollers 42 comprise a plurality of parallel shafts E4 on each of which a plurality of disks it are secured in spaced relation to each other. The disks at are so spaced on the various shafts 3-4 that they interfit as shown in Fig. 4. Further, it will be noted that the rollers 34', which perform the felting, shrinking, and crozi-ng functions, are shaped so as to have a series of spaced enlarged portions clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 6 of the drawings. The manner in which these rollers specifically perform these functions is not part of the present invention and for a further understanding of said function attention is directed to Homer A. Genest Patent No. 2,325,909, dated August 3-, 1943.

The rollers 3@ comprisingthe intermediate row are mounted for fixed rotation relativeto the frame of the machine but the rollers of the upper and lower rows may be moved toward or away from. said intermediate row as hat bats are moved through: said first and second passage-- ways. The upper and lower rows of rollers are biased toward the intermediate row by mechanism disposed adjacent plates I 5 and- !8- and comprising. a plurality of shafts 3% and Eii-to which rocker arms 52 are fixed.

Disposed between the outer endsv of the rocker arms. and bearings 26 of the upper and lower rows of rollers 34 are helical springs 54 which bias said rows of rollers in the manner described above. Tension on the springs 5'4 may be increased or decreased by rotating the shafts 38- and 59 in the proper direction to achieve the desired. variation in tension. Movement of these shafts is achieved by means of arms 56 and 5B which are secured at one end to the ends of the shafts 48 and 50. Arms 56' and 58 are provided at their other endswith segmental gears, not shown, disposed'within-housing Gil-shown in Fig. 3. A Worm 1'2 is also mounted within said housing soas to engage said segmentalgears and, when the worm is rotated, the arms 56 and 58' may be shifted as desired.

The rollers 34 are disposedwithin a casing, supported by the frame [9* and comprising. the side plates I6 and I3, a top plate 64 and a tanklike lower member 66 having a sump 68' in the. bottom thereof. Said casing encloses a spray chamber Hi within which the bats are. thoroughly saturated by a continuous spray passed verti cally between the rollers 34 as the bats pass horizontally through said first and second passageways. A sprayer I2 is provided in the upper portion of said chamber III and is supplied with spraying solution through a pipe l4 connected with pump 76 mounted within the sump 68 and c by which the spraying solution is re-circulated.

v A sub-frame I6 is secured to the righthand end of the frame If) as viewed in Fig. 1, said frame supporting a suitable motor 86. Mounted between the sides of the frame II! is a shaft 82 supported adjacent its ends within bearings 84. A pulley 86 is fixed to shaft'82 and is driven by one or more belts 88 which, in turn, are driven by a small pulley 66 fixed to the motor shaft. Pulley 'Sllis horizontally expansible so as to change the effective diameter thereof when desired to vary the speed ratios between said pulley and the pulley B6. f j

Also mounted between the sides of the frame II! is another shaft 62 which is parallel to the shaft 62 and is rotatable by means of a handle 64 which maybe set in any desired position by :means of an arcuate row of indexing apertures '95, said apertures receiving pin 98 carried by handle 95. Fixed to the shaft 92 is an arm unit I68 which supports at the outer end a tensioning roller I62. Pressure of the roller I62 against belt 818 will cause pulley all to expand and change operation, the belts 68 and Hi are preferably V- shaped and, as illustrated in Fig. 2 particularly, a plurality of such belts are used in view of the load imposed upon the motor 86 by the machine.

Pulley I98 in the same manner as that for the belt 88. Such tensioning means is operable independently of that for belt'sd however, in that a sleeve H2 is telescopically mounted on shaft 92 but is independently rotatable relative thereto. Said sleeve has an arm unit II4 fixed thereto, said unit supporting rotatable tensioning roller I I6. Sleeve I I2 is removable by a handle III} which is fixed thereto and saidhandle carries a pin I20 which engages one of a plurality of arouately arranged apertures formed in a part of the frame III. These apertures are not shown but are si'milar'to the apertures 96 shown in Fig. 1.

From the foregoing itwill be seen that shaft 82 may be driven at speeds different from those at which sleeve I64 can be driven, and this is desirable for purposes now to be described. Fixed to the outer end of the shaft 82 are a plurality of sprocket wheels I22 -I 24, said'sprocket wheels being a unit and sprocket wheel I 24 beingism'aller than sprocket wheel I 22. Fixed to the outer end of sleeve IIl Iis a single sprocket wheel I26. 7 v Supportedby and at one side of the upper part. of the frame It are a plurality of large sprocket Wheels I28 and. I39 whichQas can be readily seen from Figs. 2 and 3, are independently mounted on different parallel short shafts I32 and I34. Sprocket wheel I22 is connected with sprocket is also expansible, like pulley 96, I, andtensioning means for the belt I68 is provided it will be seen that large sprocket wheels I28 and- I3il are driven at different speeds. Also, in view of the above described construction which permits different drivin speeds between the shaft 82 and the sleeve I24, sprocket wheel I26 may be driven at a different speed from sprocket wheels I22 and 424, whereby large sprocket wheel I42 may be driven at a speed different from the speeds of the large sprocket wheels I28 and I30 for purposes to be described.

Fixed to the outer end of short shaft I34 is a pair of small sprocket wheels I46 which have the same diameter and, fixed to the outer end of the short shaft I32, there is another pair of small sprocket wheels I58 which are of the same diameter and preferably the diameter of sprocket wheels I46. The short shafts I32 and I34 are supported adjacent their opposite ends by a pair of parallel plates I56 which are fixed to the upper portion of the frame IIJ. Preferably, suitable bearings are mounted between said shafts and plates. Also mounted between said plates I50 are a plurality of horizontal rows of bearings and short shaft assemblies I52, there being one assembly for each .of the roller shafts 28 and 32. The shaft of each assembly IE2 is connected to one of the roller shafts 28 or 32 by a short shaft I54 which is connected atitsopposite ends to said shaft of assembly I52 and roller shaft by a small universal joint I56. This construction is clearly shown in Fig. 6 and such arrangement readily permits the movement of the roller shafts 28 and 32 away from the intermediate roller shafts 30 under the influence .of the bats-passing through the first and second passageways referred to above.

Secured to the outer ends of each of the shafts of theupper row of assemblies I52 is a plurality of small sprocket wheels I58 which have the same diameter and, disposed directly above each of said sprocket wheels, is a. guide or presser plate I60 which is fixed relative .to the upper portion of frame It. As will be readily seen from Figs. 3 and fi particularly, the small sprocket wheels I58 are all mounted in a horizontal row and are driven .by a pair of sprocket chains I62 which likewise pass around the pair of sprocket wheels I46 on shaft I34. The chains I62 also ,pass around a pair of sprocket wheels I64 fixed to a suitable shaft I66 adjustably mounted in the lefthand end ,of the machine, as viewed in Fig. 3, and the chains I62 engage only the upper portions of the small sprocket wheels I68 as is clearly shown in Fig. 3 due to the fact thatthe sprocket wheels I46 and I64 have larger diameters than sprocket wheels H8. The shaft IE6 is mounted in a guided block I68 which may be adjusted longitudinally of the .chains E62 bymeans of threaded rod Ill) and nut Il'2, whereby the tension on the chains I62 may be varied by adjusting the nut I'I2. Thus, it will .be seen that all of, the rollers I34 in the upper "row which are fixed to roller shafts 28 are unidirectionally drlven at the. same speed by the arrangement described hereinabove, the same being actuated by sprocket wheel I30, sprocket wheel 'I22,"and shaft 82.

lower row or rollers e4 which are fiired to rener shafts '32 arefikiiii se' ulidil'ec fibhallydfivh by anarrafi'geinent 'si'inilar to that just desribed 'i'elatit e to the npperaow dr loll'rs 3 That is, a plurality of -sniall sprocket wheels H are fixed t the shafts of lower row 0 f ass mblies 1-52 and said shafts are fiirib'ly conne'ote d to the rbw bf 'rolle'i shafts 32 ey short sha'f'ts Man-d universal joints 1 B, clearly 'sho'wnih Fig. 6. The hdrizbhtal row of sprocket wheels 1111 are driven by sprocket"Chains 1TB whioh are rnaintaihed i-il 'e'ngagemerit with said s rocket whels "by p'res'se'r bars 178, said ains being driven by "small "sp'rocket'wheel "It and thechains are-maintained under tension by another adjustable sprocket wheel '1 8t supported by a guided block 182 which *is 'ad'ju stable *to various positions by a threaded 1'Od"i $fia;n'd ahut 186. -Sprocket wheels I48, as has been mentioned above, are driven-by sprocket wheels ii l andshaft t2. nls asmentionedbe- 'fore, sprocketwheels ifi and 5% are of'difieren't diameters and since said-sprocket wheels'arefixed to: rotate inthe same rotary :path, the'lower row of rollers 34 will be driven 'at a slower speed than the upper row of -rollers li i. To add safety to the operation of the machine, the sprocketl whe'els 58 and HQ and the chains which driv'e them "are preferably enclosed by asuitable 'cover 188 shown im -Fig. 2.

On the -side of the machine "opposite to that on which the sprooketwheels 158 and l 'fd are supported, is a 'rowof small sprocket wheels I 90 which-areseeuredto-theouter endsof the roller shafts =30 which support the intermediate row of rollers 34 of the crozing machine. -As'with the sprooket Wheels 1'58 and i1 3, each of the sprocket wheels H30 is double and unidirectionally driven by a "pair "of 'sprochetchai'ns I 92 which are held in engagement with the'sprocket wheels E90 "by -a plurality of p'resser bars 1-94. The chains E92 aredriven by a plurality of small sprocket Wheels 196 which are fixed to 'shaft M0 that is driven by large sprocket "wheel "F42. Another pair of sprocket wheels I 98, 'simila'r to sprocket wheels 596, are-'rotatably supported-on :the-upp'erend -of"'a link unit 286, shown atthe left-hand portion of Fig. 4, 'said link being' adjustable about a! pivot at "its lower' 'en'd by' 'inans ate-rowpf rollers '34 is g'enerallydriv en ata speed different froin'the speeds of the upper and lower rows-of rollers "ror reasons explained above, the speed er the intermediate 'ro'wof rollers rnayalso 'be varied dileto 'the-ex- I pansible pulley I (Sn-the ndof the motor shaft and the meehanism sy whim said i1'1-1ey" can -be expanded.

Operation of shrinking tm'd ='crozing' 'm'eehmtz's'm In E the operation-"of the mechanism thus far "descrihedf -fiatf hat bats are passed intothe en- 5 *36 of the first passageway between the -upper and intermediate rows of rollers 34 and thespeeds of thethree" rows of rollers' are reg fulated by varying them with themeans 'he'iedirectionwhile' passing" from Santana-nee to the lefthand end of the machine" asv'iewed'm the #machine. found that, ingeneral, thematic-pf the speeds of cured to one en'd'of -the sh'a'ft "44 of each roller.

The inner 'mostshaft 38 "of the intermediate rows of crozing rollers also *has 'a 'spuri'gea'r 208 secnredto the end thereof adj a'cle'ntthe gears 2 08 which mesh "with spur gear "208. is seen "in Fig. '5 the spur gear's fllfi mesh with gear "208,

'wherebyalliof the gears 296 are unidireoti'onally driven "by the gear "208, the latter "'beingslibstantially twice as thick as the gears 206 and the latter Overlapping each'otherfas'shbwnih'Fig. 5.

Thus, the transfer rollers E2 "rotate unidirecnonany to transfer the hat "bats "49, "which" have been craz d "to the fullest "permissible extent in one direction while moving through the first pas'sageway, 'to thesec'ond passageway which is between the intermediate'and lower'rowsiofroll- -er's. While moving th'roiigh "said "second jpas- 'sageway the hat bats'are cr'oz'eii. in the opposite direction to return 'thellips o'r edges thereof to registered condition which registry 'is fachieved at thetime the bats emerge from the exit 38 ofthe second passageway.

In operation-itfhas beeh' found thatl-the speeds of the three rowswof -.croz'ing rollers will lhave to be varied in accordance (with thesiz'eand thickne'ssof the bats .to beCcroze'd. "Thehandles '94 an d i-I'B can he .manipi'ilated to regnlate the speeds-of the rows of rollers ide-in order that the =plies of the bats will be wrelatively :moved and the bats crazed-the greatest permissible v ex- =tent,-without wrinkling, -in one-direction by the time-theyengage the transfer-rollers 2 andzthen be crozed the greatest permissible extent inthe opposite direction so that the lips-or edges of *the bats --are; returned to registeredcondition at the time the bats reach-the exit 38--.of= the'second passageway.

Thus, donble -crozing \is aecomp'lished while the hats "make one complete traverse through To accomplish this, it? has been rollers of -the upper and intermediate t-rows of 'rollers is-greater than-that-between the inter- 'mediate and lower-rowsaof rollers. Y cific-successful operation of :the; machine with a 'AS OIIG specertain shape and thickness n-of hat "bats, .the

upper row' of rollers were rotatediat -ll-a-R. .-P. EIL,

the intermediate row at -1031B. -P. M. -and the *lowerrow at 93R. P. M. ThisrestilteddnsuccessfuL feltingRandorozing 0f the hat bats first in one direction-and then the other.

It- -shoiild beflunderstoo'd that in orderto comof the-speed ratiosvmerely represents'one example and .is not tor-be considerd'rest'rictive of the -op- "eration of themachinei-in that said speeds refer to only one specificbatch'of 'bats. .Said speeds will haveto. bevarie'd. to suit other -bats which are not offthe same:size, thickness,'.texture, and

T the like. I Iowever, the a speeds of "the rollers 'I'n'afbe 'yaried'to successfully and completely access? felt, shrink and croze hat bats of a wide range of sizes, thickness, and texture by properly manipulating the adjusting mechanism described above.

Inasmuch as the-presentmachine is operable to croze hat bats in one direction, so that their lips or edges are moved out of registry a maxi- ,mum permissible amount without wrinkling, and

then croze the bats in the oppositedirection to bring the lips or edges back into registry by the time they reach the exit 38, it is possible to use in conjunction with the crozing mechanism de-- scribed above mechanism which will automatically move the hat bats from the exit 38 to the entrance 36 rather than require such return to be manually made as has been necessary heretofore. Such manual return has mainly been previously necessary due to the fact that available machines were not capable of first accurately crozing hat bats from edge registering condition to the greatest permissible amount in one direction and then crozing in thereverse direction to bring the edges back to registry.

Bat feeding, and positioning means they are usually introduced tip or point foremost as indicated in Fig. 8. After once traversing the first and second passageways they are introduced with one of the folded edges substantially foremost, in which position the bat has been angularly shifted approximately 45 about an axis vertical to the plane of the bat. After once traversing the two passageways in this position, the bat is. next introduced tip foremost again. After oncemore traversing tip foremost through both passageways, theibat is introduced next with its other folded edge substantially foremost and it traverses said passageways once in this position. During the next traverse, the bat is introduced tip foremost, and so on through the cycle just abovedescribed.

When the bats are crozed while going through the passageway tip foremost the bats are subjected to crozing in one direction whereas, when the bats are introduced with one of the folds foremost, crozing is imposed upon the bats in another direction. Thus it is desirable to have the bat traversethe passageways alternately tip first and one of the folds substantially foremost, but it is to be understood that the above specific cycle is merely illustrative and not restrictive.

Heretofore, as mentioned above, such angular shifting of the bats was done manually inasmuch as said batsnot onlyhad to be varied in their positions within their own planes but they had to be turned over after every passage or so through the, crozing mechanism since the bats would not emerge from the crozing machine with the lips or, edges thereof in registry. Actually, when emerging from the usual previously used machines, the plies of the bat had been relatively shifted so that the lips or edges of the bats were spaced from each other in the direction of the plane of the bat thegreatest permissible amount since the bats were only, crozed in one direction,

as distinguished from being crozed also in the reverse direction to return their edges to registry, as is now possible when using the shrinking and crozing mechanism comprising the present invention which accomplishes double crozing during each traverse of the bats through the machine.

After the bats are felted, shrunk and crozed while flat by passing through both the passageways a predetermined number of times, they are thenopened and refolded to form a new crease in the bat disposed preferablysubstantially to the crease the bats had while previously being 'crozed when the bats are viewed from above when opened in conical form. Such periodic changing of the crease-produces more even shrinking of the bats. Such manualmanipulation, however, is insignificant compared to the amount of manual operations which are saved by use of the present invention. I

Bat feeding means per se The bat feeding and positioning means is shown as comprising approximately the righthand third of the machine shown in Fig. 1. Such feeding and positioning means is also shown in side elevation on a larger scale in Fig. 7. The feeding portion of said means primarily comprises a plurality of co-operating conveyor belts which move the bats from'the exit to the en trance of the shrinking machine, and means for transferring the bats from one conveyor to the other. Referring particularly to Fig. 7, a supporting conveyor cm, which may be inthe form of a flexible relatively wide web or 'belt extends aroundrollers 2l2, 214,2; and 2%.. These rollers are mounted on suitable shaftsextending between the sides of the sub-frames l8. The shaft to'which rollZ i2 is secured has fixedthereto a small sprocket wheel 220 around which a sprocket chain222 passes, said chain also passing around another small sprocket wheel 22d, fixed to the shaft Mil. Thus, sprocket wheel M2 which drives the intermediate row of rollers 34 also drives conveyor 2w by means of sprocket wheel 224.

One end of conveyor ZIEI is mounted adjacent exit 38 of the second passageway of the crozing mechanism as shown in Fig. 4, whereby said conveyor readily receives bats from said passageway, the lips or edges of the bats being inregistry. .The bats are then moved, as indicated by arrows in Fig. 4, from said adjacent end of the conveyor Zlil to the righthand end of said conveyor shown in Fig. '7. In order to economize inspace and accommodate other portions of the bat feeding and rotatin mechanism, the conveyor portion which supports the bats first moves downward, then substantially horizontally, and then upward at an angle. y

In order that the bats may be maintained properly spaced and positioned upon conveyor 2H1, another conveyor 226 is suitablysupported on rolls 228,239, 232 and 234. The lower portion of the conveyor 226 is thus guided so as to be juxtaposed to the path of the upper portion of the conveyor 2m and hat bats are held between said juxtaposed portions of the conveyors 2H; and 226 while moving toward rolls 218 and .234 of said conveyors. Actually, said lower portion of conveyor 226 controls the shape of the upper portion of conveyor 2H1, since both portions' pass beneath rolls 239 andj232.

For purposes to be described, conveyor 226 preferably consists of a series of horizontally spaced endless chains. One form of chain which is suitable to the present machine is a conventional ladder chain but other suitable types of relative narrow chains, belts, or straps may be used for this purpose. In order that the chain components of the conveyor 226 may be maintained in properly spaced condition, the rolls 228 and 234 are provided with spaced grooves 238 within which the chains are disposed so as to frictionally engage the same. This isso espe- .cially in regard to the grooves of roll 234 inasmuch as said roll is positively driven by a sprocket wheel 238- secured to one end thereof, said sprocket wheel being positively driven by a sprocket chain 25 Said sprocket chain also passes around another sprocket wheel 242 which is secured to the outer end of a shaft 244, said shaft passing from one side of sub frame I8- to the other and being supported within suitable beanings within said frame.

Also fixed to shaft 244 adjacent sprocket wheel 242 is another sprocket wheel 246 which is driven by a sprocket chain 248. Said chain also passes around a sprocket wheel 25!] secured to one end of a short horizontally mounted shaft 252 supported at its ends by one side of sub-frame i8 and a parallel auir'iliary plate 254 connected to said one side of said sub-frame 18 as clearly showcn in Fig. 8.

Fixed to shaft 252 is still another sprocket wheel 255 which is driven by still another sprocket chain 258, the latter being driven by sprocket wheel 2653 which is fixed to sprocket wheels 22s and H32. Thus, conveyor 22B is indirectly driven by sprocket wheel I42 which. likewise indirectly drives conveyor 2m and the sprockets by which said two conveyors are driven are of such size that said conveyors will move at the same linear speeds.

When hat bats have reached the outer end of the conveyor 2|!) as it passes around roll 2E8, the bats are engaged by a transfer mechanism comprising a plurality of interfitting transfer rolls 262, 264, 266 and 268, said rolls resembling the transfer rolls 42 in that they each comprise a series of disks fixed to and longitudinally spaced upon shafts which, with the exception of roll 254, are supported at their ends within suitable bearings in the side members of sub-frame l8. Said transfer rolls, which are shown to advantage in plan view in Fig. 8 and in side elevation in Fig. 7, transfer bats to conveyor 226 and from said conveyor to entrance 36 of the shrinking machine.

Transfer roll 264 is supported at its opposite ends in bearings formed in a plurality of members 210 which are disposed adjacent opposite sides of sub-frame 18 as shown in Fig. 8. The members 276 are somewhat triangular in side elevation, as shown in Figs. 7 and 11, and said members are pivoted on a shaft 272 which is the shaft to which the disks comprising transfer roll 262 are fixed. The shaft comprising part of the transfer roll 264 is thus mounted at its ends in members 210 and said shaft is connected to shaft 212 so as to be rotatable thereby, such connection comprising a pair of sprocket wheels 21s, 23'6 and a sprocket chain 218. Transfer rolls 262, 266 and 268 are each provided at one end with sprocket wheels 280 and said sprocket wheels are driven by a sprocket chain 282 which in turn engages sprocket wheel 284 fixed .to the same disks comprising said transfer rolls preferably move at the same peripheral speed as the linear speed of said conveyor. In order that proper tension may be maintained upon sprocket chain 232, an idler sprocket wheel 28% is mounted on a suitable stub shaft fixed to the upper portion of sub-frame l8.

It will be noted from the foregoing that transfer roll 28 i is driven by transfer roll 282 through the medium of sprocket Wheels 274 and 276 and sprocket chain are. The members sit for supporting transfer roll 284 may be pivotally moved about the axis of the transfer roll and, rather than the transfer roll 284 always being meshed with the other transfer rolls, said roll may be moved to the position shown in Fig. 11 when the members 2H3 are moved to their position in Fig. 11 by a pair of links 283 which are pivotally connected to the members 27?: as clearly shown in Fig. 7. The transfer roll 2%, however, is normally maintained in the position shown in Fig. 7 by means of a torque motor 259 which, through suitable gears, actuates a plurality of arms 292 disposed adjacent opposite sides of sub-frame 78 on a shaft 294 which is pivotally supported at its ends within opposite sides of said subframe. Each of the gears is connected to one of the links 288. Roll 265 thus functions as a bat ejecting means for the bat feeding means, for purposes now to be described.

At predetermined intervals such as after the passage of a certain interval of time or after a predetermined number of bats have been shrunk and crozed in the manner above olescribed, they must be removed from the entire machine in order that the crease in the bats may be moved or shifted for the reasons and in the manner above described. Accordingly, suitable control mechanism responsive to passage of time or a number of bats is embodied in the bat feeding means so as to control the functioning of said bat ejecting means. Such control means may be mounted, for example, in suitable housings 296, which may be positioned opposite side edges of the conveyor 225 or at any other suitable location. While diiferent satisfactory timing and counting mechanisms are available, a photo-electric cell type of mechanism has been selected for exemplary illustration in the drawings. t will be understood that the circuits for the photo-electric cell mechanism are enclosed within the housings 29%. Should timing devices, either mechanical or electrical, or other forms of counting mechanism be used in lieu of said photo-electric cell mechanism, it will be understood that the same will be connected into the circuit of the torque motor 290 so as to control the operation thereof in response to the passage of either time or a predetermined number of bats, depending on the type of control used.

As is evident from Fig. 8, two side-by-side rows of hat bats move along adjacent parallel pathways on the conveyors 2| 0 and 223 as well as through the first and second passageways of the crozing machine. Preferably the bats in the two rows are staggered as shown in Fig. 8. Thus, two photo-electric cells 298 are illustrated in Fig. 8 and each is positioned so as to be responsive to one of the two rows of hat bats moving on said conveyors. The circuit controlling the operation of the torque motor 296 is connected with the photo-electric cell circuit in any suitable way, not shown in detail, and it will be understood that after a predetermined number of hat bats have passed by the photo-electric cells 238, the torque motor 29!) will be energized to move in a direction to cause the transfer roll 264 to be moved to the position shown in Fig. 11, whereupon the hat bats will be permitted to move from conveyor 2) to any suitable form of platform or receptacle from which they are taken for purposes of changing the creases therein, as described above.

Following the movement of all bats from the feeding means comprising conveyor Zill and 223, the circuit of the torque motor 293 is energized by the control circuit so as to restore the transfer roll 264 to its position shown in Fig. 7. The number to which the photo-electric or other counting mechanism will be set to be responsive is adjustable and will be the product of the number of bats contained in any one batch or group being crozed multiplied by the number of passes or traverses said group must make through the crozing machine before the bats are to be ejected.

Bat positioning means'per se Aswill be seen from the foregoing, bats are Mounted on the upper portion of the subframe 18 are a plurality of vertical and parallel plate-like members 303, 392, and 304. Member 332 is twice as long as members 330 and 304, as

shown in Fig. 3. Two vertical pairs of conical rolls 3% and 338 are pivotally supported between plate member 333 and half of plate member 302 while two more pairs of conical rolls 3H! and 3l2 are pivotally supported between plate member 304 and the other half of plate member 302. All of said rolls are provided with concentric spaced grooves 3M through which the spaced chains or other members comprising conveyor 226 may pass.

Each vertical pair of conical rolls is mounted with the small ends thereof juxtaposed and likewise with the larger ends thereof. Thus, as a. hat bat'passes between a pair of said rolls it will be rotated within its own plane about an axis vertical to the plane a limited amount. Theangle at which the rolls illustrated herein diminish from one end toward the other is such that the average size hat batwill be rotated approximate- 1y 45 while passing between one pair of them.

For convenience, the lower roll of each vertical pair of conical rolls is mounted for rotation about a fixed axis extending at an angle to the horizontal, as is clearly shown from Fig. 9 particularly. Lower rolls 3!!) and3l2, for example, are mounted on shafts M6 and 3l8 which are positioned in bearings disposed within plates 302 and Mounted so as to be parallel to plates 300 and 304 is another auxiliary plate 320 which is similar to auxiliary plate 254. In each of said auxiliary plates are a plurality of bearings which support short shafts 324 on the outer ends of each of which are fixed small sprocket wheels 32 6. Each of the shafts 324 is connected to oneof the shafts on which the conical rolls arev mounted by means of short intermediate shafts 328and a pair of universal joints 330 at opposite ends'of shafts Said trans- V 14 328, as clearly shown in Figs. 8 and 9. The use of such-universal joints is necessary inasmuch as none of said shafts on which the conical rolls are mounted are parallel to the short shafts 324.

For purposes of simplifying the driving mechanism therefor, all of the pairs of conical rolls are preferably continuously. rotated by means of a sprocket chain @332 which passes around the various sprocket wheels 326 at one side of the machine. Said chain is driven by another sprocket wheel 334 secured to shaft 252, see Figs.

7 and 9, and the sprocket wheels 336 on the other side of the machine are interconnected and driven by a sprocket chain 338 which is driven by sprocket wheel 340 fixed to shaft 244. Sprocket wheel 334, being fixed to shaft 252, is driven by sprocket wheel 256, chain 258, and finally large sprocket wheel I42. Since sprocket wheel 250, fixed to shaft 252, also drives shaft 244, it will be seen that sprocket wheel 340 of the other two pairs of conical rolls is also driven by large sprocket wheel I42.

As will be readily seen from Fig. '7 particu-r larly, the sprocket chains 332 and 338 are disposed relatively to the sprocket wheels 326 and 336 in such a way that the individual rolls of each vertical pair will travel in opposite rotary directions. To facilitate such interconnection of the sprocket wheels 326 and 336 by the sprocket chains 332 and 338, idler sprocket wheels 342 and 344 are mounted so as to be engaged by said chains, said idlers being supported respectively by auxiliary plates 32!] and 254.

As has been stated above, the lower roll of each vertical pair of conical rolls is preferably rotatably mounted about a fixed axis but the upper roll of each pair is mounted so as to be movable toward and away from the lower roll of 7 said pair while maintaining the juxtaposed surfaces of the two rolls substantially parallel, as is clearly shown in Fig. 9, wherein the nearest pair of rolls are shown in engagement, but the pair of rolls to the rear thereof are shown out of engagement and spaced sufficiently far apart that abat' may pass therebetween without being engaged by said rearward pair of rolls.

This condition exists relative to each set of two pairs of rolls mounted respectively adjacent opposite side edges of the conveyor 226. To accomplish such relative movement between the rolls of each vertical pair, the shafts 346 and 348 on which the two upper rolls of each pair are mounted are supported at their ends in spaced rockable plates 350 and 352, each of said plates being movable about a pivot 354 supported by the plates 39!), 302 and 304.

Each plate is also provided with a segmental gear portion 356 having its center at the pivot 354. Further, the shafts 346 and 348 of each set of'two pairs of conical rolls are mounted so as to be yieldable relative to said rockable plates 350 as is shown in Fig. 10. Such yieldable mounting can comprise any suitable means 358 which will permit controlled movement of the upper roll away from the lower roll when saidrolls are in engagement as shown in the foremost pair of rolls illustrated in Fig. 9.

The rockable plates 35!! are shifted by means of small. pinion gears 363 which are supported by suitable shafts 3532 in plates 339, 332, and 334. Also secured to the outer end of each stub shaft 362 is a sprocket gear 364 which is driven by a s rocket chain 336 and another sprocket gear 363.

The sprocket gears 363 are each driven by an individual torque motor .313. Said motors are controlled by a circuit which is interconnected in the aforementioned control circuit which .iSlSllbjBCli to the influence of the counting mechanism 296.

Assuming a hat'bat M3 is moving point or tip foremost as shown at the right in the upper path illustrated in Fig. 8, the leading pair of rolls, that is, those nearest to the oncoming hat bat, are disposed in engagement with each other while the remote or trailing pair are disposed out of engagement with each other. The hat bat will be engaged and rotated by said leading set of rolls so as to dispose the bat as shown at the left in said upper path illustrated in Fig. 8. The bat wil1 then be carried by conveyor 226 to entrance 36. Said bat will then be disposed with crease A approximately foremost and will pas through the crozing machine disposed in this position.

The next time said bat encounters the conical shifting or positioning rolls, it should be rotated back to the position it originally had so that it will next pass through the crozing machine point or tip foremost. To accomplish this, the remote or trailing set of conical rolls should be in engagement and the nearest set out of engagement. When said bat next encounters the positioning rolls, it should be rotated so that crease B will be foremost and to accomplish this the trailing set of roll will remain in contact while the nearest set again stay out of contact.

The hat, on successive traversings should be first rotated in reverse directions so as to be tip foremost for one passage through the crozing machine and then, on the next passage therethrough, turned further in the same rotary direction so hat crease A will be foremost which is illustrated at the left in the upper path in Fig. 8. Such two last mentioned turnings are accomplished successively by the nearest pair of rolls being in contact while the trailing pair are out ofcontact. It will thus be seen that the nearest set of rolls are in engagement while a batch of bats pass therethrough twice, the trailing or remote set of rolls being out of engagement, and the trailing set are then brought into engagement and the nearest move out of engagement, during which time the batch of bats passes therethrough twice, and this cycle is repeated until the batch has been crczed the desired amount.

Assuming, for example, that there are sixteen bats to a batch, eight bats will pass along each ath on the conveyor 226 and through the first and second passageways in the crozing machine. If the bats are first fed into the shrinking machine point or tip foremost, the counting or timing means will be set so that the leading rolls 3l2 are in engagement and trailing rolls m are out of engagement long enough to permit eight bats to pass through rolls SH and be angularly shifted thereby clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 3, to dispose folded edge A substantially foremost. This is the limit of such clockwise angular shifting of the bats.

The counting or timing means will then cause the leading rolls 3l2 to be moved out of engagement and the trailing rolls 3H1 to be moved into engagement until each of the eight bats has passed through rolls 3H1 twice, or long enough for sixteen bats to pass between the rolls 3m. The engagement of the bats by rolls 316 the first time they pass therethrough will angularly shift the bats counter-clockwise relative to Fig. 8 to dispose the points or tips foremost. The second engagement of the bats with rolls 3H1 will cause them to be further angularly shifted counter-clockwise so that folded edge B is substantially foremost.

16 This is the limit of such counter-olockwise angular shifting of the hat.

The counting or timing mechanism will then move trailing rolls 3 I 6 out of engagement and return leading rolls 3l2 to engagement, maintaining them so until sixteen bats have passed therebetween, that is, until each bat of the eight in the path has passed through the rolls twice; first, to angularly shift the bats clockwise to dispose the points or tips foremost and, secondly, to fur ther shift the bats clockwise to dispose them with folded edge A foremost.

The counting or timing mechanism then moves leading rolls 3l2 out of engagement and trailing rolls 3"] into engagement for the purposes above described, and so on, through this cycle until the bats have passed through the shrinking machine the desired number of traverses to complete the shrinking and crozing thereof. Generally, the last traverse of the bats is made with the points or tips foremost. Thus, the last set of rolls enaged by the bats will remain in engagement while the eight bats pass therebetween only once as with the rolls first engaged by the bats at the commencement of the angular shifting operations described above.

Thus, the counting or timing mechanism is capable of controlling the circuits of motors 319 and 290 so that, for example, the batch of bats in each path passes through one pair of conical rolls once, then alternately through each pair of rolls twice for a predetermined number of times, then through one pair of the rolls once, and then out of the machine over bat ejecting roller 254.

The two sets of the two pairs of conical rolls are longitudinally spaced relative to the conveyor at different positions, as shown in Fig. 8, primarily for purposes of simplifying the mounting thereof. Further, the movement of the upper rolls of each set by means of rockable plate 35!] and 352 is positive, without disturbing the driving connections of said rolls due to the flexible portions of'said drive means comprising universal joints 330 and intermediate shafts 328. The movement of only one roll of each pair relative to the other should not be considered restrictive, however, since it is conceivable that both rolls of each pair may be mounted so as to be movable in opposite directions away from or toward each other by suitable mechanism not illustrated herein.

It will thus be seen that the bat feeding and angular shifting mechanism described in the foregoing is operable to alternately feed the bats to the entrance 36 tip foremost or with one of the folds A or B foremost, the sequence preferably being tip foremost, fold A or B foremost, tip foremost, the other fold foremost, tip foremost, etc. This is possible by passing each bat through one pair of conical rolls of each set twice and then shifting the rolls of each set in the manner described above. After the bats have been shrunk and crozed the desired amount, they are automatically ejected from the crozing and feeding mechanism by the movement of the transfer roll 264 to the position shown in Fig. 11, following which said bats may be manually crozed by being opened and having their creases shifted or so in the manner above described, T latter function s manual but, as stated hereinbefore, is y a small manual function a par d to ll he manual functions required in the existing practice.

While h invention has been illustrated and described in its several preferred embodiments and has included certain details, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise details herein illustrated and described, since the same may be carried out in other ways, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

'We claim as our invention:

1. A machine for shrinking hat bats comprising incombination, a frame having an entrance and exit, three rows of co-operating rollers rotatably supported by said frame in superposed relation so as to provide between the intermediate row and one of the other rows a first passageway to pass flattened hat bats into said machine from the entrance thereof and also provide between the intermediate row and the other row a second passageway to pass said bats out of said machine through the exit thereof, transfer means to move said bats from the first passageway to the second pasageway, and adjustable means to drive said rows of rollers at different pre-selected speeds, the ratio of'speeds being greater between the rows of rollers forming said first passageway tively moved in one direction within said first passageway to move said rim edges away from each other and the plies relatively moved in the opposite direction within said second passageway to move the rim edges back into substantially even registry when they reach the exit of said machine. l

4 2. A'machine for shrinking hat bats compriseing in combination, a frame having an entrance and exit, three rows of co-operating rollers rotatably supported by said frame in superposed relation so as to provide between the intermediate row and one of the other rows a first pass'ageway to pass flattened hat bats into said machinefrom the entrance thereof and also provide between the intermediate row and the other row a second passageway to pass said bats out of said machine through the exit thereof, transfer'means to move said bats from the first passageway to the second passageway, adjustable means to drive said rows of rollers at different preselected speeds, the ratio of speeds being greater between the rows of rollers forming said first passageway than between those forming the second passageway, whereby flattened hat bats can .be fed into said entrance with their rim edges substantially evenly registered and the pliesof the bats relatively moved in one direction within said first passageway to move said rim edges away from each other and the plies relatively moved in the opposite direction within said second passageway to move the rim edges back into substantially even registry when they reach the exit of said machine, and feeding and positioning means automatically operable to feed said bats from said exit to said entrance of said machine in predetermined position within a plane in which they are fed to said entrance.

3. A machine for shrinking hat bats comprising in combination, means having an entrance and an exit, a. plurality of rollers within said means arrangedto receive from said entrance a flattened hat bat having its rim edges substantially evenly registered with each other, means to operate certain of said rollers at different speeds to manipulate said bat so that the plies thereof are firstcrozed to work the rim edges away from each other and then back into sub 18' stantially even registration incident to the ba reaching the exit of said machine, a bat feeding means adjacent said exit operable to receive said bat from said exit and move it to said entrance, and means associated with said feeding means and operable to automatically shift the angular position of said hat a limited amount about an axis normal to the plane of the flattened bat prior to the bat being fedby said feeding means to said entrance.

4. A machine for shrinking hat bats comprising in combination, means having an entrance, and an exit, a plurality of rollers within said means arranged to receive from said entrance. a flattened hat bat havingit rim edges substantially evenly registered with each other, means to operate certain of said rollers at different,

speeds to manipulate said bat so that the plies thereof are first crozed to work the rim edges away from each other and then back into substantially even registration incident to the bat reaching the exit of said machine, a' bat feeding means adjacent said exit operable to receive said bat from said exit and move it to said entrance, and means associated with said feeding. means and selectively operable to automatically shift the angular position of said bat a limited amount in either direction about an axis normal to the plane of the flattened bat prior to the bat being fed by said feeding means to said entrance.

5. A machine for shrinking hat bats compris ing in combination, means having an entrance and an exit, a plurality of rollers within said means arranged to receive from said entrance a flattened hat bat having its rim edges substantially evenly registered with each other, means to operate certain of said rollers at different speeds to manipulate said bat so that the plies thereof are first crozed to work the rim edges away from each other and then back into substantially even registration incident to the bat reaching the exit of said machine, a bat feeding means adjacent said exit operable to receivesaid bat from said exit, and move it to said entrance, and means associated with said feeding means and automatically selectively operable afterthe passage of a predetermined number of bats to automatically shift the angular position of said bata limited amount in either direction about an axis normal to the plane of the flattened bat prior to the bat being fed by said feeding means to said entrance. v

6. A machine for shrinking hat bats comprising in combination means having an entrance and an exit, a plurality of rollers within said means arranged to receive from said entrance;

and a bat feeding means adjacent said exit op erable to receive said bat therefrom and move it;

. to said bat positioning means and thence, to

said entrance. l

7. A machine for shrinking hat bats comprising in combination, means having an entrance or 19 and an exit; a 'plurality 'of' rollers within said means arranged to receive from saidentrance afi'attened hat bathaving its "ri'medgess'ubstantialijr' evenly-registeredwith each other; means to-op'erate' certain" of" said rollers at diiierent speeds" to manipulate said bat so that the plies thereof" are-first crozed' to work the rim edges away from eachother and then back into substantially-even "registration incident to the bat reaching the exit of said machina'bat-positioning'means"comprisinga plurality of pairs of conical rolls rotatably mounted with their axes disposed transversely to the path of movement of" a'b'at emerging from said exit, the small ends of one-pair of rolls extending toward one side of said path and'the small ends of the other pair extending toward the other side of said path, means operable to selectively and alternatively movesaidpairs ofrolls'into and out of operative position to receive a bat and alternatively shift I the angular position thereof in opposite directions in accordance with whichpair of rolls is in'pperative'position, and bat feeding means disposed adiacentsaidexit and operable toreceivea bat-therefrom and move it to'said bat positioning means'and thence to said entrance.

8'; A machine for shrinking hat bats comprisingin combination; means having an entrance and an exit, a plurality of rollers within said means arranged toreceivefrom said entrance a flattened hat bat having its rim edges substantially evenly'registered with eaclrother; means too'p'erate certain -ofsaid rollers at different speeds to 'manipulatesaidbat so that the plies thereof'are first crozed' towork the rim edges away from each other and then back into substantially even registration incident to the bat reaching the exit of said machine, bat positioning means comprising a plurality of pairs of conical rolls rotatably mounted with'their axes disposedtransversely tothe path of movement of a bat emergingfrom 'saideXit, the small ends of "one pair 'of rolls extending toward one side of said path and'the-small ends' of the other pairextending towards the other'side' of said path" control means arranged to operate said pairs "of rolls to selectively and alternatively move the pairs 'into and out of operative position to receive a-bat and alternatively shift the angular position-thereof in opposite directions in'accord- 4 ance withwhich pairofroll s is in operative position',--on1y one pair 'of's'a'id rolls being'in operative position at any one time, andbat feeding means disposed adjacentsaid exit and operable to receive a bat therefrom and move it to said batpositioning'nieans and thence to said entrance.

9; Amachine'for shrinking hat'bats comprising in combination, means having an entrance and an exit, apl'urality of rollers within said path-and the smallendsof theother pair extending towards the other si'd'e of saidipath; means responsive to the passage of a predetermined number'of bats-arranged to operate: saidpairs of rolls to selectively: and alternativelymove the.

- ing in combination, -meanshavingan entrance and-an exit; a plurality iofnrollersswithin said means arranged to receive from saidentrance flat hat bats having their rimiedges' substantially evenly registered with :each other, means to operate certain oi'sa-i'd rollers at different speeds :to

manipulate said bats-scr'thati the plies'thereof are first crozed'toxworkrtherim edges away; from each other and .thensiback' into-'substantiaily even registration. incident :to the bats reaching o tiieexit of s'aid machine; a" hatieeding means adjacent said exitoperable to receive? bats ifrom saidiexit and move themrto said entrance; means associated with'said'feeding means and'operable to antomatically' shift the angular: positions :of

.1 said bats alimited amounta-bout an raxisinormal to the-plane oftheflat: bats priontotheabats being 'fed by; said feeding; meansi to 'said. en

trance; and meansvresponsive .to 'thezpassage of. a predetermined number of bats associated-with said-bat feeding means. and operable :to automatically eject said -bats said'iieeding means after a-Jbatch pfzbatshave .passedzthrough said shrinking: machine a predetermined number iof times. to

- "11,. For; usewith ahat'zhatizshrinkingzmachme havingranrexitzand anre'ntrance'; batcfee'dingxand shifting/means nomp'risingfin: coinbinatiom; a conveyor: syStemLha-Ving: ends positionable-adjacent the,veix'itandzenizancenf: an batrshrinking machine, andibatishifting meansassociated with said conveyor system: intermediate the-ends thereof :and automaticallyioperableito engage fiat batsion .isaid conveyor and angnlarly shift. said bats a limited amount withinatheirz own planes upon said conveyor.

12: For use. with a hat batshrinking machine haring1anexitand anrentrance; bat: feeding and shifting;means comprising in combination; a first conveyor positionableadjacent the exit :of a batfshrinking machine,- a *secondconveyor posi tionableadjacent the entrance :of lSELid bat shrinking machine; bat shifting-means associated-with said second fc'onveyor'and automatically operable toireceivefiat bats and shift the angular position of them within their own plane to a pre determined position on said second conveyor, and transfer means associated with said conveyors and operable to transfer bats from the first conveyor to thesecond.

13. For use with a 'hat'bat shrinking machine having an exit and an entrance, bat feeding and shifting means comprising in combination, a first conveyor positionable adjacent the exit 'of a bat shrinking machine, a second conveyor positionable adjacent the entrance of said bat shrinking machine, bat shifting means associated with said second conveyor and operable. to receive fiat batsand shift the angular'positi'on of them within 'their own plane to a predetermined position on'said second conveyor; transfer means ass'0- and operable to receive flat bats from said trans fer mechanism and angularly shift said bats a predetermined amount within their own plane. 15. Eoruse with a hat bat shrinking machine,

bat shifting means comprising in combination, transfer mechanism positionable to receive iiat batsfrom said shrinking machine, means posi tioned to receive fiat bats from said transfer mechanism" and selectively operable to angularly shift said bats a predetermined amount within their own planes in either rotary direction about an axis vertical to said flat bats, and control means operable at predetermined inter: vals to control the angular shifting means for selecting the direction in which said bats will be shifted. a

16. For use with a hat bat shrinking machine, bat shifting means comprising in combination, transfer mechanism positionable to receive fiat bats from said shrinking machine, means positioned to receive flat bats from said transfer mechanism and selectively operable to angularly shift said bats a predetermined amount within their own planes in either rotary direction about an axis vertical to said flat bats, and control meansjresponsive to the passageof a, predetermined number of bats relative to said bat shifting means and operable to control the angular shifting means for selecting the direction in which said bats will be shifted.

17. For use with a hat bat shrinking machine, a bat shifting mechanism comprising in combination, a conveyor positionable to receive flat hat bats from a bat shrinking machine, a pair of conical rolls rotatably mounted on opposite sides ofsaid conveyor with the axes thereof transverse to the path of movement of the conveyor', the small ends of both of said rolls being disposed adjacent one edge of a pathway for bats upon said conveyor and the large ends adjacentthe other edge of said pathway, and means to drive'fsaid rolls in opposite rotary directions to receive therebetween from said conveyor .flat

' hat bats and angularly shift said bats a limited amount within their planes incident to passing between said rolls and discharge said angularly shifted bats onto said conveyor for return there adjacent one edge of a pathway for bats upon said ,conveyor and the large ends adjacent the other edge of said pathway, means to drive said rolls in opposite rotary directions to receive therebetween from said conveyor fiat hat bats and angularly shiftsaid bats a limited amount withn their planesincident to passing between said rolls and discharge said angularly'shifted bats" onto said conveyor for return thereby to said shrinking machine, means operable to move one of said rolls awayfrom and toward its operative positions relative to the other roll, and meanscontrolling the operation of said roll moving means in response to the passage of a predeter mined number of bats relativeto said rolls.

19. For use with a hat bat shrinking machine;

a batshifting mechanism comprising in com-- bination, an endless conveyor positionable to re-* ceive fiat hat bats from a bat shrinking machine path of said conveyor with the axes thereofj transverse to said path of the conveyor and the:

grooves thereof receiving said spacedmembers thereof, thesmall ends of both said rolls being disposed adjacent one} edge of a pathway for bats upon said conveyor and the large ends adjacent the other edge of said pathway, and means to drive said rolls in opposite rotary directions to receive therebetween flat hat bats moved thereto by said conveyor and shift the angular position of said bats a limited amount within their planes incident to their passing between said rolls, said shifted bats passing from between said rolls onto said conveyor for return thereby to said bat shrinking machine.

20. For use with a hat bat shrinking machine, a bat shifting mechanism comprising in combination, a conveyor positionable to receive flat hat bats from a bat shrinking machine, two pairs of conical rolls, the rolls of each pair being respectively rotatably mounted on opposite sides of said conveyor with the axes of the rolls transverse to the path of movement of the conveyor and the small ends of both rolls of one pair be ing disposed adjacent one edge of a pathway for bats upon said conveyor and the small ends of both rolls of the other pair being disposed adjacent the other edge of said pathway, means to drive said rolls of each pair in opposite rotary directions to receive therebetween from said conveyor flat hat bats and shift the angular position of said bats a limited amount within their planes incident to their passing between said rolls and discharge said angularly shifted bats onto said conveyor for return thereby to said shrinking machine, and means to alternately move said pairs of rolls from their operative position relative to said conveyor, whereby only one pair of rolls is operable at any one time to angularly shift said bats and the pairs of rolls serving respectively to angularly shift said bats in opposite directions.

21. For use with a hat bat shrinking machine, a bat shifting mechanism comprising in combination, a conveyor positionable to receive flat hat bats from a bat shrinking machine, two pairs of conical rolls, the rolls of each pair being respectively rotatably mounted on opposite sides of said conveyor with the axes of the rolls transverse to the path of movement of the conveyor and the small ends of both rolls of one pair being disposed adjacent one edge of a pathway for bats upon said conveyor and the small ends of both rolls of the other pair being disposed adjacent the other edge of said pathway, means to drive said rolls of each pair in opposite rotary directions to receive therebetween from said conveyor flat hat bats and angularly shift said ass-a237 bats -a ,li mited; amount Within, their, planes incidentto; passin -'between said rollsand discharge said angularlyshifted batsonto said conveyor forareturn thereby to said shrinking machine, means operable to alternately move said pairs of, rolls from their operativepositions relative, to fia d conveyor, whereby .only one. pair of rolls is operable at any one time-to angularly shift said bats, and the pairs of :rolls serving respectively iqangularly shift said bats in opposite directions, and setltable, means operablein responseto, the passage of apredetermined number of. bats on said eonyeyor toactuatesaid roll moving means.

.122, A machine Ior automatically shrinking and orqzjng llanbaifis comprising 11K11 13 47103. manipulative,- means defining a. passageway .having. an entranceand anexitsaid manipulative means being arranged to manipulate .under pressure theufl'attened bats as theypass. therebetween in order to felt and shrink the bats, .ior, operating said manipulative means to crozathe bats ,suceessiyely, in opposite directions asfthey sothroush sai pa ag way w y th pl es ofmthe ,ba'tsasthey issue .from the exit are substantially in the same registry as when fed into the entrance, bat :onyeyingv means operable to receive'the bats from, the exit a d returnthemto said entrance, and means associated with said conveying means, and operable to automatically shift the angular position of the bats .a limited amount about an axis normal to the planes of the flattened bats prior to the bats being returned by said conveying, means to said entrance.

, HOMER A. GENEST.

WARNER H. GENES'I.

1 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in thefileofthis patent: U 9

UNITED STATES "PATENTS 

